The City Council votes Nov. 16 on a $3.34 million McKinstry contract for LED lights, thermostats and HVAC at city buildings. Savings are guaranteed to cover the loan.

The Alpharetta City Council votes Monday on a $3,340,105 contract to upgrade lighting, heating and cooling and water fixtures across city buildings. The contractor, McKinstry, would guarantee the savings that pay for it.

The award is new business item 7A in the agenda packet for the Nov. 16 meeting, posted Wednesday. The council discussed the contract at a work session Nov. 9 without a vote, the draft minutes in the same packet show.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the council chambers at City Hall, 2 Park Plaza.

What the $3.34 million buys

The staff report lists these upgrades:

  • LED lighting replacing 3,750 fixtures at 43 sites
  • weather-stripping, sealing and window tint at 12 buildings
  • 109 networked thermostats at 28 buildings
  • seven end-of-life HVAC units replaced at six buildings
  • low-flow aerators and flush valves at 55 sites
  • a tune-up of five major buildings: the Alpharetta Arts Center, fire headquarters, City Hall, police headquarters and Wills Park Pool

The city expects the work to cut energy use across its buildings by 15% and water use by 33%, the report says.

How it is paid for

Source Amount
Loan from Bank of America $1,950,000
City money in the 2027 budget $1,207,302
Utility incentives and rebates $182,803
Total $3,340,105

The loan runs 15 years at a fixed 4.62%, with the first payment due Nov. 17, 2027. The city asked 13 lenders for quotes and got four. Bank of America’s rate was the lowest, ahead of J.P. Morgan at 4.64%.

McKinstry guarantees $176,243 in savings in the first year, rising about 3% a year for 20 years. The first-year loan payment is estimated at $146,148. The difference, $30,095, is the net saving to the city’s budget each year, the report says. If the savings fall short, McKinstry has to pay the city the difference.

The contract tackles part of a bigger list. McKinstry’s assessment of 60 city buildings and sites found $11.8 million in replacement needs over the next five years, as we reported in October.

Also on Monday’s agenda

  • Old Rucker Farm. A $448,464.35 contract with Rubio and Son Interiors to turn the farmhouse at 900 Rucker Road into a year-round education center with a teaching kitchen. A $300,000 Lowe’s grant pays most of it and must be spent by March 1, 2027.
  • Alpharetta Animal Hospital. A new owner, Alpha Dogs Veterinary, is buying the hospital and wants to move it from 80 Milton Ave. to a 6,084-square-foot building at 41 Marietta St. downtown. The plan has no boarding, and hours would be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. The Planning Commission backed it 7-0.
  • Windward Hall. A two-story, 7,900-square-foot restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner at Windward Parkway and Edison Drive, with outdoor dining over a stream buffer. Planners backed it 6-0.
  • Royal 400 data center substation at 4905 North Point Parkway, covered in our story on the Georgia Power substation.
  • Driveway parking for work vehicles, a first reading, covered in our story on the business vehicle rules.
  • Two rezonings for gated home lots: three lots on 4.98 acres at the end of Wills Lane, and two lots on 4.56 acres at 1425 Mayfield Road. Planners backed both 7-0. Each drew one public comment against, over stormwater and lost open space or trees.
  • Georgia Birding Trail. An agreement with Birds Georgia would make Rucker Road Park, Rock Mill Park, the Alpharetta Greenway and the Alpha Loop official sites on the trail.
  • High school farm programs. An agreement with Fulton County Schools for Cambridge, Alpharetta and Milton high schools and Innovation Academy, at $1,680 a year.

Decided Nov. 9

The draft minutes record every vote as 7-0, with no public comments:

  • $71,674 to Halff to design a stormwater pond on city land behind Rainwater Drive, to stop erosion along the Alpha Loop
  • $1,296,535.09 to Russell Landscape to plant 531 trees on Webb Bridge Road and Main Street, covered in our tree-planting story
  • an application for a federal grant toward 31 new police and jail bulletproof vests, with a city match of $39,106.50
  • $17,394 in federal Justice Assistance Grant money for police handgun barrel and compensator systems
  • a temporary copper sculpture in Wills Park and a $116,000 IT services renewal

A proposed policy on paying legal costs for city officials and employees was pulled from the work session and not discussed.

What it means for you

  • Watch or speak Monday. The meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, and public hearings take comment on each zoning case. The full packet is on the city’s meeting portal.
  • Live near Wills Lane, Mayfield Road or 41 Marietta St.? Those hearings are your chance to comment before the council decides.